RE: homemade (anything)
I made shooting sticks from left over replacement fiberglass tent poles. I make two sticks, two sections long each with elastic strungbetween to hold each togther.I covered both in duct tape to muffle the sound, thenI took a few inches ofleft over elastic and tied it together and wound it around both about 6 inches from top. What I have now is a set of shooting sticks that fold to about 18 inches, are muffled for silence and unfold and spread out in just few seconds.
I'd had the extra poles for several years gathering dust in my camping stuff. A friend of mine used pvc pipe and left over fittings for end pieces and just used a bolt and washers to make the pivoting joint. His work well, but I like mine better.
Spud